Alias
by adeptitachipoker
Summary: Oneshot. "...a name he hadn't heard before reached his ears, much to his displeasure. It, along with other degrading comments swam in the slurred gossip between his drunken peers." Madara garners a new reputation. Originally part of my story The Unearthly and the Human.


**A/N: This chapter takes place after Natsume's and Taki's battle with the sight-stealing youkai. One scene stands out in my mind- the one in which Nyanko stands guard by Natsume's bedside like a loyal pet would do with its master. And voila, this story was born. Happy reading to tell me what you think!**

It was safe to say that Nyanko had built quite a reputation for himself among the youkai. He had been given a lot of names over the centuries before he had been sealed away: "white whirlwind", "silver beast", "pearl demon"…

But lately, a name he hadn't heard before reached his ears, much to his displeasure. It, along with other degrading comments swam in the slurred gossip between his drunken peers.

"He was with that child again, Grandson of Reiko."

"He's always among the humans. He reeks! I can't stand two meters from him without feel nauseous?"

"Him, of all creatures, a friend of mankind? That's rich."

Some of the lower, less powerful youkai talked about Nyanko to pass the time, but not about the almighty Nyanko that could beat any youkai below him to dust, the beast that ought to rule the entire unseen world. Instead, they snickered at a pudgy cat that spent his time with mortals, and ate their food and accepted their rules.

He was a fool, they said. An idiot who lowered himself and put himself in pitiful company.

"They call you a human-lover," Hinoe stated as she held a lit pipe, wispy white smoke pouring out of her purple lips as she spoke.

"Human-lover, huh," Madara mumbled as he absently watched a sleeping Natsume. The grand youkai smirked at the stupid moniker. _Those drunken idiots wouldn't know the truth from their own behinds_, he thought.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Madara didn't "love" humans. Loving something implied that one couldn't live without its presence. But the truth was, if an epidemic swept across the globe and destroyed mankind, Madara wouldn't even bat an eye. Humans were to him as other animals were to humans, foreign creatures that happen to inhabit the same environment.

And indeed they were strange beings: laughably weak by youkai standards, but resilient, able to love stronger than they could hate, kept standing up again even when defeat was imminent. Humans were contradictions. Ultimately, Madara's view of mankind boiled down to 'stupid but interesting' and that was why he kept them around. For entertainment's sake and nothing else.

"'For entertainment's sake?' You make it sound as if humans are your playthings," Hinoe chuckled darkly. Had Natsume been awake, he would have been, understandably, disturbed. So, Madara shuddered in Natsume's place. "Well like you said, they make life a bit more interesting. Reiko especially was…"

Anyone who was acquaintances with Hinoe was aware of her…Reiko fetish. And like many times before, Madara watched as Hinoe's eyes lit up at the thought of her long dead love interest and he mentally prepared for a long discussion (usually one-sided) on Reiko's charms.

"Oh Reiko-chan! What a beauty!" Hinoe exclaimed, eyes practically stars, and she droned on about the girl's slender legs, pearl white skin, "curvy lips", soft straight hair, and the alluring gold eyes that she and her grandson shared (just how attentive to details was this woman? Madara wondered with horror).

"I don't want to hear about your unsatisfied desires Hinoe," Madara said. Reiko would forever be the spunky and tyrannical girl in his memories, a girl who beat up and conquered humans and youkai alike and who in no way should be viewed in a loving, romantic light.

Hinoe gave a cocky laugh. "You just don't understand love. And you probably never will, my pudgy feline friend."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Shhh! You'll wake him up, you stupid cat," Hinoe hissed, pointing to Natsume. The feverish boy, luckily, didn't seem to hear them and kept on swimming in his dreams, whatever humans dreamed about.

Madara put a chubby paw to the towel on Natsume's forehead. "Just as I suspected, it's dry," he said and promptly re-wet it in a nearby basin and clumsily placed it back on the boy's still boiling forehead.

All the while, he scrutinized his prey with beady cat eyes. Natsume's pale skin was an unhealthy pink from the fever and it glistened with a seemingly endless supply of sweat (Madara always wondered why humans sweat and bleed so easily). The sounds of Natsume's labored breathing filled the otherwise dead room.

All in all, the human looked pretty miserable, but Madara didn't sympathize. That was Touko's job. Humans were just weak creatures by nature. Natsume should have known that and not pushed himself beyond his natural limit. Why should Madara pity an idiot?

"He looks even more wimpy than usual," Madara casually remarked.

"Is that your way of saying that you're worried, Madara?" Hinoe wore a teasing smile, one that was still far from surpassing Reiko's legendary smirk.

"Psh, why would I waste my feelings on a human?"

"You keep saying that, Madara. But it's so obvious that you care about him."

At Madara's blank stare, Hinoe huffed. "Admit it! You keep saying the Book of Friends is your reason for sticking around him, but it's a feeble excuse. The book is probably as thin as a toothpick by now, yet you're still by his side."

One of Madara's eyes twitched ever so slightly, portraying the youkai's growing annoyance. But from the way he was avoiding her eyes, Hinoe knew that she spoke the truth.

Madara's embarrassment fueled Hinoe's rant. "It's your pride as a youkai that's getting in the way," the female youkai continued while playfully tapping her pipe on Madara's muzzle, causing the white youkai to wrinkle his nose from the suffocating smell of burning plant fibers. "Let me ask you: what's wrong with spending time with humans?"

Wasn't the answer to that question obvious? Madara had a fountain of responses-like humans were dumb and ignorant and completely unworthy of a noble youkai's time or youkai and humans were just too different to get along-but they all dried up on his tongue.

Hinoe closed her eyes with the grace of someone wise. "I love Reiko and you like Natsume-kun. It's simple. Really, tell me, why should liking somebody, regardless of race, be looked down upon?"

Instead of looking away this time, Madara lifted his head and looked down at his companion while sporting an overweening grin. "You dare lecture me Hinoe as if I am some fool?" Hinoe didn't even flinch.

"You know I'm right," she said confidently."You're just too pig-headed to admit it." Madara didn't bother to comment on the insult and set his eyes on the sick human in the room again…

And ever so softly (maybe Hinoe imagined it), he muttered, "Perhaps."

Then Natsume, who had long been in the clutches of a fever- induced slumber, stirred slightly. Madara doubted that the boy had been aware enough to hear his and Hinoe's conversation. Perhaps it was a nightmare that was getting to him, but more likely, he was probably just bothered by the fevered heat.

From his nostrils, Madara blew a warm puff of air into the boy's face, and after a minute, Natsume settled down again, sighing softly. "Sensei…" a gentle whisper said.

And for the first time, Madara didn't find his new nickname as menacing.


End file.
